1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a highly nutritious and biologically stable animal food composition having a crunchy shell at least partially surrounding a relatively soft, deformable core. The composition can be stored without refrigeration for a substantial period of time in non-hermetically sealed packages and retains the novel and distinct characteristics of the shell and core even after prolonged ambient exposure. The present invention also relates to a novel process for making the composition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,916,029 describes a biologically stable animal food composition having a deformable, shape-retaining proteinaceous inner matrix surrounded by an outer pastry shell. The proteinaceous matrix has a water content of 15-40% by weight, less than 15% by weight of sugar and between 3% and about 4% by weight of salt sufficient to yield a water activity of less than 0.85. The pastry shell is made primarily from flour and shortening (fat), contains less than 20%, and preferably 12% to 14% by weight water and includes sufficient sugar to yield a water activity of less than 0.85.
While this composition constitutes a nutritionally well-balanced and highly acceptable food for the household pet having all the convenience of conventional dry or meal-type animal food products, it lacks the rigid texture of conventional dry animal foods and accordingly also lacks the oral hygiene benefits derived by an animal from masticating such products. A further drawback of this prior art composition is that upon prolonged ambient exposure, such as occurs when the composition is left standing in an animal's feeding bowl, the inner matrix tends to lose its deformable character, causing the product to become less palatable for the animal.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly nutritious, biologically stable animal food composition having the convenience of dry tape animal foods and the meat-like characteristics animals find highly palatable in every piece.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an animal food composition that provides the oral hygiene advantages of the conventional dry or meal-type animal food without sacrificing palatability.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a biologically stable animal food composition having a crunchy shell at least partially surrounding a relatively soft, deformable meat-like core.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an animal food composition that retains its important textural characteristics even after prolonged ambient exposure.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a process for preparing an animal food composition having a crunchy shell at least partially surrounding a relatively soft, deformable meat-like core.
These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent from a consideration of the specification and the appended claims.